Published: April 18, 2024

CU Boulder's Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) invites Maia Kobabe and Gabrielle Calvocoressi听to be in conversation about attacks against queer and nonbinary people and works, as well as amplifying the art of our speakers.听Kobabe and Calvocoressi will discuss the words "liberty", "freedom", and "democracy"听and what they mean for them as nonbinary artists, and how the audience can be advocates for liberty, freedom, and democracy.

Maia Kobabe's award-winning memoir Gender Queer听is currently the most challenged book in the United States (). Kobabe expressed eir journey with this stigma in "" and continues to fight to protect diverse literature and the freedom to access information听as a full-time artist and activist.

Gabrielle Calvocoressi is an award-winning poet and essayist, who听explores the variety of use of pronouns, or even no pronouns in their collections. The poems in听Rocket Fantastic听explore the use of a symbol听instead of pronouns, in which Calvocoressi elaborated on this use in .

The first 30 people to register for this event (as well as attend) will be eligible for a free copy of Kobabe's听. This event will be held Thursday, April 18, 2024 at听the 麻豆视频 from 4pm - 5:30pm. This event has a limited capacity, .听If you have questions about this event, contact the CHA at cu-cha@colorado.edu.

麻豆视频 the Speakers & Their Works

(e/em/eir) -

,听is a 2019 graphic novel by Maia Kobabe. This work has received many praises and won several awards, but is also one of the most frequently challenged books around the country.

This coming-of-age book explores Kobabe鈥檚 feelings about eir identity and sexuality as e develops an understanding of what it means to be nonbinary.

Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual,听Gender Queer: A Memoir听is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity鈥攚hat it means and how to think about it鈥攆or advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.

(they/she)

Gabrielle Calvocoressi is an award-winning poet, UNC Chapel Hill Associate Professor, Editor at Large of the Los Angeles Review of Books, and Poetry Editor at Southern Cultures.

In Calvocoressi's book听, Calvocoressi explores a genderless world by utilizing the musical segno symbol听in replacement of traditional pronouns. This allows readers to engage with the poem鈥檚 content while leaving sex and gender as an open question.

Calvocoressi鈥檚 collection explores the lives of people and animals whose individual stories may seem small, but when taken all together, explore questions of violence, grief, nature and familial relationships in the modern era.

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Parking and Venue

Screenshot of CU Boulder's parking near the UMC Building, updated as of April 2024

Visitor Parking

The CHA recommends parking in Euclid Parking Garage ($2.45/hour) or Lot 204 (across from the CASE Building; rates vary) for the closest proximity to the event. As a reminder, the event is located in the University Memorial Center RM 235, or referenced on the map as "UMC" below.

Visit CU Boulder's Parking Website for more information about visitor parking:听/pts/parking/visitorshort-term-parking

Map of the University Memorial Building, 2nd floor layout at CU Boulder

Map of Venue

This event will be in CU Boulder's University Memorial Center (UMC), Conference Room 235. Please see below for the map of the 2nd floor听on how to get to the event.听

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"Liberty, Freedom, Democracy: The Flight for Ideas" Theme

The Fight for Ideas logo

The CHA has concentrated its programming for the 2023 - 2024 academic year on the theme of 鈥淟iberty, Freedom, Democracy: The Fight for Ideas.鈥�

These three听words 鈥攍iberty, freedom, democracy 鈥� are deeply linked with the United States and the notion of the American Dream, with the promise of equal opportunities to all who come to its shores. However, in the past decade, these words have been听been wielded for political purposes, weaponized rhetorically to suggest that certain people and ideologies are more worthy of being American than others. That certain people belong in the US and are entitled to liberty, freedom, democracy 鈥� and everyone else is excluded from these terms and their concepts.

The CHA investigates the actual meaning of these terms. What does 鈥渓iberty鈥� in the context of U.S. civil rights mean, particularly amid the recent Supreme Court erosions of rights? Is it 鈥渇reedom鈥� to be who you want or 鈥渇reedom鈥� from oppression?听Who decides what is considered 鈥渙ppression鈥� versus what is 鈥渇reedom鈥�? In a time when democracy, globally, seems under threat 鈥� where for the first time in its history the U.S. was in danger of a peaceful transition of power on January 6, 2021鈥攖he question of what makes a nation a 鈥渄emocracy鈥� and who 鈥渄emocracy鈥� is for, are among the considerations that the CHA take up through this theme.

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